


Possession and Choices

by orphan_account



Category: Tales of Vesperia
Genre: M/M, Underage Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-14
Updated: 2013-08-14
Packaged: 2017-12-23 11:01:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/925596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the events in the Blade Drifts of Zopheir, the party tries to get Karol to rest to avoid getting him sick with exhaustion. He and Yuri exchange some words as they settle down for the night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Possession and Choices

The first thing that comes to your mind is that sword is a lot scarier and a lot bigger when it's in your face. All this time you'd chalked it up to Karol being small and the sword being too big for him, but it's actually quite large.

 

Karol is red in the face and obviously genuinely upset as he waves it in front of you, coming dangerously close to hitting several vital spots. Of course, you trust him not to hurt you much, but when Rita raises her fists, that's when you get nervous.

 

Once you're out of the Quoi woods, your mind is swirling with thoughts about what to do about your missing princess, about the state of the aer, and now about Karol as he wobbles by your side. The monsters here aren't anything to worry about, but since he saved your sorry butt back at those ice drifts, you've felt an even stronger need to keep an eye out on him.

 

After all, he's your own. He's your boss, your Captain, and you'll be fucking  _damned_  if you let something happen to him. 

 

When night falls, Judith and Raven insist to use one of the big tent kits to make sure Karol is well rested. You take him under your wing and set up a tent for just the two of you, Raven taking first watch while the girls settle down together.

 

"I'm fine, Yuri..." Karol insists for the umpteenth time. His cheeks are pink, his brow furrowed ever so slightly. You think that he may be running a fever. This tent is hardly the best place to help him recover, but it's better than nothing.

 

"You know, saying that over and over again won't make me more inclined to believe it," you retort easily. Karol pouts in response.

 

Quirking a brow, you lean over and poke him in the chest. His eyes lift to look at you, confused, as you try to push him down onto his back.

 

"You need to get some rest, okay? You've done enough for us already, acting all brave isn't worth getting sick from exhaustion."

 

A small smile quirks Karol's lips as he allows himself to be laid out on his back. "Brave... You really thought I was brave, Yuri?"

 

You chuckle. "Of course. Even I would have been a bit nervous to fight that thing by myself."

 

"Just a bit nervous?"

 

"Well, that might be a bit generous, but yeah, something like that."

 

Karol just shakes his head, his eyes falling shut. You're content to leave the conversation at that, really, and let him sleep, but soon enough the boy is pushing himself up onto his elbows and giving you an intent stare.

 

"Yuri, I... You know, when I-- I did it because-- well, not because I'm really brave, I mean I was scared witless just to be there by myself, but-- I couldn't imagine what would have happened if I just left. You guys were trapped, and the chances of someone coming around to help you guys was slim to none, so..."

 

"Hey, slow down, it's okay," you tell him, putting a hand on his shoulder. His eyes fall to look at your hand, bending his head so that it's hidden from the dim moonlight. 

"I just..." He sighs, then lifts his head again. When his eyes meet yours, you can feel your chest restrict just a tiny bit. "I couldn't lose you, Yuri."

 

"Well, we wouldn't be much of a guild without you either, Captain," you reply with a wry smile, "So I'm glad we're both alive right now. Come on, let's get to sleep, Karol."

 

His eyes are determined, if a bit timid, as he holds your gaze. After a moment of chewing on his lower lip, he says, "Y-Yuri, I can't-- Do you understand what I'm saying, Yuri?!" Karol flinches as soon as the words leave his mouth. "I know you're not dense, and... This is a better time to say it, if at all. I just-- I needed you to know, just in case... Just in case something like that happened again. Okay?"

 

"Karol..." It's hard to come up with a response to that. He's right - you're anyting but dense and you know exactly what it is he's talking about.

 

He lowers his head. "I'm sorry if I just made things weird," he mutters, dropping his eyes.

 

"Hey, no-- look, it's okay, don't worry about it." You move your hand from his shoulder and take his chin into your grip as gently as you can manage. It still catches him by surprise - his eyes are wide when they find yours again, the pink in his face now a deep red.

 

"Like I said, Brave Vesperia wouldn't be much of a guild without you, Karol. You'd leave a pretty big hole in my life too, if things turned out for the worst." As you speak, you take note of his parted lips, his hopeful stare, the way his body slowly leans towards yours. "I know what you're saying and I--"

 

Your voice dies in your throat when you feel his gloved hand upon your cheek. His fingers tremble against your skin, but the resolve in his face is astounding. "Y-Yuri, please. Just..."

 

His hand drops to the front of your shirt, clearly avoiding the deep dip that exposes your chest. The other hand joins it and grabs the other side of your vest, gripping it with all he's got.

 

In the silence you can hear his stuttering breaths, can feel them fan against your neck. The proximity is more than you expect and the few inches that separate you do nothing to mask the way his body shakes. Your own body thrums with restless energy, anticipating any move he may make. At this point, you're careful not to assume too much from this boy.

 

His crush on you isn't anything new. You can't remember how long it's been going on. You don't remember the exact moment you took up the space in his heart that was previously reserved for Nan. The boy mutters to himself when he thinks he's alone, dropping your name in his conversations with himself more than you'd think necessary. Hell, he even dreams of you, you know this - on those nights when you're forced to share a bed, you can hear him mumbling in his sleep. The dreams are never especially pleasant by the way his brow furrows as he dreams, but sometimes he wears the most carefree smile on his face and breathes your name into the quiet of the night.

 

"...I've actually thought about this for a while," the two of you murmur at the same time. You can't help but smirk at that. Surprise overwhelms his face, that wide eyed stare upon you once again.

 

"What do you mean, Yuri?"

 

You flick your tongue against the back of your teeth quietly, shaking your head slightly. "Pursuing something like that considering our circumstances... I've just been wondering how it would work." Trying to figure out the best ways to handle it when the time came, trying to see if you could let him down gently-- or if you could even let him down in the first place.

 

Karol... means a lot to you. He's  _yours_ , for all intents and purposes. If someone lays a hand on him, then they'll have to face the consequences. If he makes a mistake, then you're responsible for teaching him how to own up to it and how to compensate. If he accomplishes something, then it's up to you to help him celebrate and learn from it. 

When he threw himself at that monster like that earlier, you'd never felt more useless in your entire life - it's your fucking job to protect him, and everyone else. Sitting there like a helpless child isn't your past-time of choice. His stubborn determination twisted your gut and tightened your ribs around your heart, and you were being one hundred percent honest when you said you couldn't watch as he flung himself into the fray.

 

"It wouldn't be anything you'd consider normal, that's for sure," you add with a slight smile.

 

"Th-That's okay!" Karol exclaims, his mouth running a little too fast for his tongue to keep up, "I'm totally fine with not normal! I mean, no one around here is exactly normal, Yuri, s-so--"

 

You squeeze his shoulder and he closes his mouth with a snap. "Don't hurt yourself."

 

Karol swallows a lump in his throat and nods. "Alright. So, um, what you're saying is that, um-- We can...? We can do this?"

 

"You're going to have to be clearer on that one, Boss."

 

That flush flares in his cheeks again. "Like-- Can I... K-K-Kiss you and stuff?"

 

"No one's stopping you," you reply with a smirk.

 

"Well, I just wanted to make sure that it's okay!" Karol cries, shaking his fists by his sides. Pouting, he shifts his hands so that they rest on top of your hips, a light pressure against your body.

 

With a small smile, you return his embrace and slowly pull him towards you. "It's okay, it's fine, don't worry about it. Just relax."

 

His face flushes a deeper red as he allows himself to be pulled into your lap. "O-Okay..." As he trails off, he worries his bottom lip between his teeth. The warmth between your bodies sinks down into your stomach. It's a pleasant, fluttery feeling, and by now you think that he deserves this, if he'll take it as a reward - his antics have certainly earned something great.

 

You put a hand on his head and stroke his hair, pushing it back away from his face. A smile pulls at the corners of his lips as he leans into your touch.

 

"So, um-- Should we tell the others...? Is this, like, an official thing, or...?"

 

"Do you want to tell the others?"

 

Karol hums. You can feel the vibration against your chest. "Well, they deserve to know... Plus, um, I think that they should know s-so we can put any sort of, um, ideas to rest, if you know what I mean."

 

Of course, the kid's possessive. Though to be honest, you are, too. The thought makes you smile.

 

"That look on your face is making me nervous, Yuri," he states with a small smile, "What are you thinking about?"

 

"Nothing important." You play with his hair a little, twisting it out of the weird cowlick it's in. "I'm proud of you, you know. What you did was incredibly courageous, and I owe you my life, Boss."

 

With some half-hearted mumbles, Karol averts his gaze for a moment and scratches his cheek, his blush renewed. "L-Like I said, I didn't want to have to-- imagine my life without you, or anything. Without any of you."

 

Even though he includes the rest of your band of misfits, what he says is still awfully... romantic, actually. You understand what he means entirely. Grinning, you slide your hands under his shoulder blades and hug him close to you.

 

Karol eagerly returns the embrace, burying his head into your shoulder. "B-Besides, you've saved my butt more times than I can count, so... it's the least I could do."

 

"Just because I look out for you doesn't mean you owe me anything, Boss. I keep you around because I want to. We're a team now, you know. We're Brave Vesperia."

 

"Yeah," Karol replies with a breathy chuckle, "We are."

 

As you stroke his back, you feel him turn his head so that his cheek rests on your shoulder. His eyes peek up at you from under his hair. "S-So you don't really mind the, ah, the age difference, Yuri?"

 

You shrug. "Kind of a loaded question there, Boss, are you sure you want to go there?"

 

His eyebrows draw together. "Well, I'd like to be sure that we're on the same page."

 

"Of course," you respond, smiling wryly. With a quiet hum, you lift your hand to play with the strands of hair near the base of his skull. "I don't feel like I'm taking advantage of you, Karol, so no, I don't have a problem. As long as we can keep everything out in the open and we communicate, we should have minimal problems. I mean, you were the one who proposed this in the first place. I could have said no, but as long as you're fully aware of the choice you've made, there's nothing wrong."

 

Besides, this is something only _you_ can handle. Intimacy is always an intimidating field for newbies, and feeding Karol to the sharks isn't high on your list of things to do. You firmly believe in what you're saying - as long as Karol makes his boundaries clear, then the two of you should be fine. You can control yourself - hell, you're not really sure just what you'd get out of an intimate relationship with your boss, but... since you're in the position to teach him, why not? If you're being honest, you just want him to be happy, and how exactly you do that isn't what's important.

 

"Geez, you make it sound so... clinical," the boy states with a slight snort. However, a bright smile soon graces his features. "But you know, I like that about you, Yuri."

 

You quirk a brow. "Is that right?"

 

"Yeah." Still grinning, he leans up, stretching his back so that his face is level to yours. For good measure, he tugs at your shirt, shortening the distance between your lips. You can feel his breath on your skin, the movement of the air as his eyelids flutter. 

 

When he finally does kiss you, it's... it's cute. It's sweet. His lips are inexperienced, small and slightly chapped, and you can practically taste his nervousness. His body trembles, rattling your bones, but you wait patiently for him to pull away on his own.

 

"Um, was that-- was that okay?" Even his voice wavers, and you steady your arms around his middle in order to give him an anchor.

 

"This is going to be a slow process if you ask about every little thing along the way," you tease, "But since you asked, yes, it was okay. Here, I'll show you something better."

 

His eyes widen and his jaw moves as if he's about to ask another question, but you silence him with your mouth. You lift a hand to cradle the back of his head as you slide your lips across his as gently as you can manage. You've never been much of a tender lover in your life, when you got the chance to be one, but you have a feeling you can manage it for Karol.

 

As you pull away, a whimper tumbles out of his mouth. His whole face is a deep red, and his body continues to shake against yours.

 

"Yuri," he breathes, and you think you might have caught his tremors because that simple call of your name travels through your lungs and down your throat, settling thickly in your stomach. There it sets your veins alight, a gentle fire that warms you from the inside out.

 

"Karol," you respond firmly, pleased by the effect you've had on him.

 

He throws his arms around your neck, wrapping his legs around your middle. It occurs to you then that you could shield his entire body if you folded him the right way, tucking him beneath your chest and away from the dangers of the outside world. You could be his ultimate protector and you wouldn't mind one bit.

 

It's when Karol's nuzzling your chest contentedly that Raven decides to poke his head into the tent. He doesn't even blink at the tangled position that you're in.

 

"Ya don't honestly expect me ta take guard the whole night, do ya?"

 

Karol's back stiffens. You place your palm on the crown of his head and stroke his hair to calm him down, urging him to relax under your touch. The boy melts.

 

"Go bother one of the girls, we're kind of in the middle of something," you say, lifitng an eyebrow.

 

Raven rolls his eyes. "Clearly. Fine, fine, but if I get my head blown off by Rita, I'm blamin' ya."

 

"Just get out of here, old man! You wouldn't understand what we're going through, anyway!" To top it off, you throw your head back slightly, casting the back of your hand against your forehead.

 

"Way ta hit me where it hurts! No need ta tell an old man twice!"

 

And with that, he disappears from the entrance, the sounds of his footsteps crunching the dirt outside serving as the only traces of his presence.

 

You're about to inform Karol that your previous state of privacy has been restored when you realize that his breathing has evened out. His arms are slack atop your shoulders, his heels resting lightly against your backside. With a smile, you carefully rearrange his limbs so that he's fully on top of you, then you ease onto your back.

 

While you don't sleep any easier than you have on any other night, the warmth and weight of Karol, the physical security that comes with having him close, makes your rest a pleasant one. Besides, you tell yourself as you start to drift off, you have until morning to figure out how to solve the rest of your problems. Having one kept at bay for the moment should give you enough room to focus your attention on more urgent things, after all.


End file.
